Bundling strap-locking technique

ABSTRACT

The locking technique employed herein requires the displacement of a portion of the strap body from its normal plane into transverse slots in the face of the head member of such bundling strap. In an alternative embodiment, a special web is provided across one of the facial transverse slots; such web is displaced into and along with the strap body portion into a second transverse facial slot in order to provide the necessary locking.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee BUNDLING STRAP-LOCKING TECHNIQUE [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.022,557 2/l962 Logan 24/16 PB UX 3,353,227 11/1967 Kabel. 24/l6 PB Primary Examiner-Donald A Griffin Arrorney- David Teschner ABSTRACT: The locking technique employed herein requires the displacement of a portion of the strap body from its normal plane into transverse slots in the face of the head member 2 chimss Drawing Figs of such bundling strap. In an alternative embodiment, a spe- U.S.Cl v 24/16 PB cial web is provided across one of the facial transverse slots; Int. Cl v. B65d 63/00 such web is displaced into and along with the strap body por- Field of Search 24/ l 6 PB, tion into a second transverse facial slot in order to provide the 30.5 PB necessary locking.

I I i 20 I l l h- *h.

I8 2O O Patented Aug. 10, 1971 I 3,597,804

INVENI' GEORGE H. GEISIN AT TORNE Y BUNDLING STRAP-LOCKING TECHNIQUE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION of the twist-to-lock type of cable-bundling strap. As is shown in that patent, body portion 20 must be passed through the head end aperture 36, twisted approximately 90 and then allowed to relax into the transverse slots 40 in order to complete the locking operation. In so installing a strap, there is some loss of tension in the bundling strap caused by the movement of the twisted strap portion from the twisting position at the face of the head end portion to the depths of the slots 40. A load must be applied to the conductors in order to permit the twisting and locking operation of the strap; this loading on the conductors may cause damage to the conductors, especially where they are foil insulated. Further, care must be taken in the selection of the materials in which the strap is to be fabricated in order to insure that the strap will be able to withstand the rotation of 90 or greater in the locking operation. Further, any tendency of the strap body portion to return to its initial position due to its residual memory may produce a weakening of the joint and may even cause the strap body portion to pull back through the head end aperture and disengage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to overcome the difficulties noted above with respect to the Logan patent by providing a more efficient locking method which does not require additional tension to be applied to the conductors or other articles being bundled and one which does not relax its tension as a result of the locking operation. This is accomplished by means of displacing a portion of the strap body alone or, in combination, a portion of the strap body and a portion of the head member into one of the transverse slots in the face of the head end portion to cause locking of the strap body portion and prevent its withdrawal from the head member. In a first embodiment, the bundling strap has a head portion having a passage therethrough for receipt therein of the body portion of the strap. Two transverse slots are placed on the face of the head member, each communicating with the passage through the head member. An installing tool having a backup plate is positioned, for example, atop the head member and an embossing die is positioned adjacent the transverse slot at the lower portion of the head member. Then, by operating the embossing tool, a portion of the strap body is displaced into the second of the transverse slots, thereby locking the body portion from withdrawal from the head member.

In a second embodiment, a first transverse slot communicates with the passage through the head member, whereas a second transverse slot communicates by means'of a web with the passage through the head member. The embossing tool is then positioned so that the die member fits within the second transverse slot and, when operated, causes displacement of the web into and along with the body portion into the first transverse slot, thereby locking the body portion against withdrawal from the head member. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved locking technique whereby a bundling strap may be locked without reduction in the installation tension within the strap.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a locking technique requiring no additional parts than those already present on the strap member.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved locking technique for a bundling strap wherein a displaceable web is provided adjacent the passage through the head member, which displaceable web may be displaced into and along with the body portion of the strap in order to lock the body portion against removal from the head member.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principles of the invention, and the best modes which have been contemplated for carrying them out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference characters:

FIG. I is a top elevational view of a first form of a bundling strap constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention and showing the body portion foreshortened.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, in section, of the head member portion of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 2-2.

FIG. 3is a side elevation, partially in section, of the head member as shown in FIG. 2, showing the position of the installation tool and the manner of appearance of the strap body portion after the locking technique has been employed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the head portion of a second embodiment of a bundling strap constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a bundling strap l0'constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention. Bundling strap 10 has a body portion 12 which terminates at a first end in a tail portion 14. The opposite end of the body portion 10 terminates ina head portion 16, having a passage 18 extending therethrough. Passage 18 is of sufficient size 7 to permit the passage of the body portion 12 therethrough. Transverse slots 20 are provided in the face of the head portion 16 and communicate with the passage 18 of the head member 16. As can better be seen in FIG. 2, the slots 20 only extend for a portion of the total width of the head member 16.

As is shown in FIG. 3, in order to lock body portion 12 within the head member 16, body portion 12 is first inserted through the aperture 18 of the head member 16. Only a portion of the strap body portion 12 has been shown, and it should be remembered that the remaining portion extends about a plurality of articles to be bundled. The portion of the strap body portion 12 extending to the right in FIG. 3, as well as the tail end portion 14, is not shown for simplicitys sake. An embossing tool 24 has a first movable jaw member 26, terminating in a backup plate 28 and a second jaw member 30, .which terminates in an embossing die 32. Backup plate 28 is positioned atop the head member 16 and the die 32 is positioned adjacent the lower transverse slot 20. Die 32 is then caused to enter the slot 20 as by moving the handles (not shown) associated with the jaw members 26 and 30. In so operating the die 32, a portion 13 of the strap body portion 12 is displaced as the die 32 enters the lower transverse slot 20 and forces against the strap body portion 12, causing it to enter the upper transverse slot 20 adjacent the back up member 28. It can now be seen that reverse movement of the body portion 12, that is, in a direction to the left of FIG. 3, is not possible, as a result of the displaced portion 13 formed within the upper transverse slot 20. If desired, the die 32 may also be made to pierce the strap body portion 12.

Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown an alternative construction of the head member of a bundling strap arranged to be locked according tothe techniques disclosed herein. Head member 40 has a passage 42 extending therethrough and has in a first face 44 a transverse slot 46 which communicates with the passage 42. A second transverse slot 48 is provided, but this slot 48 does not communicate directly with the passage 42. Instead, a web 50 extends between the slot 48 and the passage 42. As is better seen in FIG. 5, application of the tool 24 of FIG. 3 to the head end portion 40 and body portion 12 results in a deformance of the web 50 in addition to the body portion 12, as is shown at 13. The die 32 in the tool 24 would enter the lower slot 48 and engage the web portion 50. Further operation of the tool 24 will cause the die 32 to force the web 50 upwardly toward and into transverse slot 46 and also cause the displacement of the strap body portion 12 to form the deformance of 13, also within the transverse slot 46. As a result of the combined actions of the displaced web 50 and the displaced portion 13 of the body portion 12, locking of the strap body portion 12 is sufficient to withstand any attempted withdrawal of the strap body portion 12 to the left of FIG. 5.

Although there had been shown in both instances that the die 32 of the tool 24 will enter from the lower transverse slot, it is not necessarily the case, in that the tool may be equally applied through the top transverse slot. in a similar manner, the web 50, although shown to be within the lower transverse slot 48 of FIGS. 4 and 5, could just as well have been made as a portion of the upper slot 46 of FIG. 4. Also, if desired, the die 32 may be made to enter the upper or lower slot, as is desired, and its configuration may cause web 5070f FIG. 5 or the displaced portions 13 of FIGS. 3and 5 to take on particular locking shapes, if such are desired. Also the transverse slots 20, 46 and 48 may be positioned at any other desired positions in the face of the associated head members l6and 40, and their shapes varied as desired.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege I claim are defined as follows:

1. A bundling strap for bundling together a plurality of discrete articles comprising: an elongated body portion terminating at a first end in a tail portion; a head portion having first and second faces,,said head portion coupled to said body portion at the second end thereof; there being a passage through said head portion from said first face to said second face; said passage being proportioned to accept said body portion therethrough; there being a first slot in said first face communicating with saidpassage; there being a second slot in said first face opposite said first slot and a web integral with said head portion and intermediate said second slot and said passage; said web being resiliently deformable into said passage, the deformation of said web being arranged to conform substantially to the deformation of said body portion directly adjacent thereto upon the application of external forces to said web through said second slot whereby the application of external forces to said web through said second slot causes said web to deform into and deform said body portion in said passage into said first slot to lock said body portion against removal from said head portion.

2. The method of locking a bundling strap comprising the steps of looping the body portion of a bundling strap about articles to be bundled; passing the tail portion through a passage in the head portion; placing a back up member in contact with the head member; inserting a die member adjacent the head member opposite to said back up member; and operating said die member to displace a portion of said head portion and said body portion into a slot in the face of said head portion to lock said body portion against removal from said head portion. 

1. A bundling strap for bundling together a plurality of discrete articles comprising: an elongated body portion terminating at a first end in a tail portion; a head portion having first and second faces, said head portion coupled to said body portion at the second end thereof; there being a passage through said head portion from said first face to said second face; said passage being proportioned to accept said body portion therethrough; there being a first slot in said first face communicating with said passage; there being a second slot in said first face opposite said first slot and a web integral with said head portion and intermediate said second slot and said passage; said web being resiliently deformable into said passage, the deformation of said web being arranged to conform substantially to the deformation of said body portion directly adjacent thereto upon the application of external forces to said web through said second slot whereby the application of external forces to said web through said second slot causes said web to deform into and deform said body portion in said passage into said first slot to lock said body portion against removal from said head portion.
 2. The method of locking a bundling strap comprising the steps of looping the body portion of a bundling strap about articles to be bundled; passing the tail portion through a passage in the head portion; placing a back up member in contact with the head member; inserting a die member adjacent the head member opposite to said back up member; and operating said die member to displace a portion of said head portion and said body portion into a slot in the face of said head portion to lock said body portion against removal from said head portion. 